Kurt's Farewell
by fantasylover42
Summary: A multi-POV fic set during Furt after Kurt, Burt, and Carole get out of Sue's office, having been told that Karofsky's coming back. Kurt, Mercedes, Rachel, and Finn share their opinions on Kurt's departing.


**Story: Kurt's Farewell**

**Fandom: Glee**

**Before Story Notes: This is a multi-POV fic, featuring, in order, Kurt, Mercedes, Rachel, and Finn. It's all of their responses to Kurt leaving. It also has a little bit of the Quinn and Mercedes friendship, because I've been missing it.**

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**Kurt's POV:**

My spirits were low as we left the office. I felt absolutely no hope. "Well, I guess I'll try to enjoy the rest of the day, before the terror starts anew. I'll see you at home." I began walking down the hall. I stopped when I heard my dad call out to me.

"Hey Kurt, wait up a second. There's something we want to talk to you about."

I turned and walked back to where he and Carole were standing. "What?" I asked listlessly.

"Kurt," my dad said, " I know that you're trying to be strong, and I know that you don't hate everything about William McKinley... And I know that Ms. Sylvester just offered to help you out..."

"But?" I prompted, not really caring about the answer.

Carole chimed in. "Kurt, your father and I have talked about it, and we say that if you agree, we'll transfer you to Dalton Academy."

"What?" Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn't that. It was the last thing that I ever would have expected.

"You're not happy here, Kurt. You feel threatened. I want you to be happy, and I want you to feel safe. And with that Karofsky kid coming back here, that won't happen."

"But –" Thoughts were whirling in my head. I had no idea what to think I felt like my brain was going to explode. "But how can we afford it?"

"Don't worry about it. We have enough saved up from our honeymoon."

"No, Dad, I can't let you–"

"Kurt," Carole said gently. "You come first. You've been your dad's first priority for years, and I don't think that should change. In fact, I wouldn't let him choose me over you." She smiled at me. "I know that I can't replace your mom, Kurt, and don't ever think that I'm trying to, but I would like to be a mom to you."

"Dad, Carole..." I had no idea what I should say. "I truly, sincerely appreciate it, but I can't let you–"

"Kurt, no one is happy if you're not happy." Dad looked at me. When he looked at me like that, the love that I saw in his eyes was overwhelming. "Carole and I would feel guilty using the money on ourselves when we know that you're so unhappy. Let us use it on you. Let us try to help you."

"I... I don't know..." I was hesitating. However much I hated being afraid of walking through the halls, I didn't want them to sacrifice anything for me. My dad had done enough of that already. He'd done everything for me, and he deserved a break.

"Kurt, that guy's terrorizing you. I won't stand by and let it happen."

"Please, Kurt," Carole pleaded softly.

I was absolutely torn. I looked from one to the other helplessly. "Are you guys absolutely sure?"

"Yes." My dad nodded firmly.

"One hundred percent."

"Well..." I had to make up my mind. "Alright. I know I won't be happy if I stay here. I'll transfer. When would I be going?"

"Immediately. After the first meeting we had with Ms. Sylvester, I checked out the school a little, and students can enroll and start on the same day. You'll be all set. And you'll have that Blaine kid that you've been hanging out with to show you around."

"I think you'd better tell them though, Kurt." Carole looked at me.

"Them?" I said blankly. I felt numb.

"Mr. Shue and the members of New Directions?"

"Oh... right." I was dazed. I wasn't quite sure I'd be able to walk, let alone find my way to the choir room.

"We'll wait for you out front and bring you home, Kurt." My dad hugged me. "It'll be okay."

I walked down the hallway to the choir room. I walked in as slowly as I could let myself. I wanted this over with, but at the same time, I was sure that I wouldn't be able to bring myself to say it. Mr. Shue was talking to the group as I walked in.

"Come on, guys. The wedding was great, but we have got to get ready for sectionals this week." He spotted me coming into the room. "Kurt, good. I wanted to talk to you about this amazing idea I had for a solo for you at sectionals."

I felt a pang. He was going to give me a solo? For sectionals? But I couldn't stay. I couldn't. Karofsky would make my life a living hell. "Can I make an announcement first?"

Mr. Shue responded immediately. "Yeah." He stepped aside and let me have the floor.

I was there, staring at all of these faces, waiting to hear whatever I had to say, and I had no idea how to do this. I just had to grit my teeth and talk. "First, I wanted to thank you for all the work that you did on my dad's wedding. Especially Finn. It's nice to know that I have great friends here, as well as a true brother." They were all smiling at each other. They looked so happy. This was my family. Not just Finn, but every single one of them. I'd miss them so much. "Which is why it's so hard for me to leave."

There was a ringing silence as everyone processed what I'd just said.

"Wha'd'you mean, leave?" Quinn looked utterly confused, and a little upset.

"I'm transferring to Dalton Academy. Immediately. My parents are using the money they saved up for the honeymoon to pay for the tuition."

"Kurt, you can't leave." Tina sounded devastated. We'd both been part of the original New Directions. We'd both been a part of this dysfunctional little group as long as it had been around. Longer than a lot of people had been.

"What the hell, dude, how about you talk with me about this first." Finn sounded completely taken aback, and upset. I didn't blame him. We'd basically made a family decision without him. I couldn't make him understand, not now, anyway.

"I'm sorry, Finn, but there's nothing to talk about. Karofsky's coming back tomorrow, so that means I won't be."

"We can protect you." Sam. I couldn't believe how much he'd done for me already. Granted, most of it was probably so that he could get Quinn to go out with him, which looked like it was working, but it still meant a lot.

"Seriously, we can, like, form a perimeter around you like the secret service." Puck. I hadn't really known what to expect from him. I knew that if it weren't for his probation he'd pick a fight with anything that moved – from experience – but I'd never really known if he cared about any of us before. And, apparently, he did.

"Yeah!" Finn sounded desperate. Mostly desperate to convince me. But it wasn't cutting it.

"The only thing that can really protect me is what they have at Dalton. A zero tolerance, no bullying policy. It's enforced." Saying it out loud made this decision seem so much more sane. I was going somewhere where Karofsky couldn't hurt me. Where no one could hurt me.

"Um, does this mean that you're going to be competing against us at sectionals?" Oh, Rachel. I never know whether to take everything you say at face value. But believe it or not, I'll miss you too. Sure, we've had our ups and downs – competing for solos, for Finn, and just her overall annoying personality, but I know that she does care about every person in Glee, and she cares about us like a family. Of course, she cares about winning too. It's hard to tell, sometimes, which she cares about more.

"Kurt–" I'd been dreading this moment. Mercedes. She walked toward me, her arms outstretched, looking hurt and confused. If there was anyone out of this group that I'd miss the most, it was her. She was my best friend. She'd stood by me through everything, even when I – unintentionally – broke her heart. She was an amazing person, and I hated to leave – but it wasn't like we wouldn't see each other, and I couldn't stay. I just couldn't.

"I'm sorry. I have to go." I was glad, as I turned my back on the people that I loved so much, that I'd had nothing else that I needed to say. Because if I'd had to stay in that room, facing them for a moment longer, I would have been sobbing. I would be anyway, but it would be better to do it away from all those shocked faces, still processing the news that I wished I'd never had to tell them.

**Mercedes's POV:**

There was dead silence as Kurt walked out of the room. I turned back to the group to see my own stunned expression mirrored on each and every one of their faces. We just stared at each other, speechless.

"Well," Mr. Shue said, in an obvious attempt to break both the silence and the tension, "I guess this means I'd better think of another number for sectionals." He stood awkwardly for a second before walking over towards the files.

"Okay, what just happened?" Santana asked.

"Kurt left," Mike said. He was staring at the door, as if willing Kurt to walk back through and tell us that it was all a joke. I don't know if he actually was, but I know that I was.

"What the hell is going on?" Finn half shouted. Rachel grabbed his hand and started rubbing his arm soothingly, looking worried.

"I just can't believe he's actually gone," Artie said. "He's been one of us since the beginning. He was one of us that actually willingly auditioned instead of getting forced in for whatever reason."

"And he was damn good!" said Puck.

"And now he's competing against us?" Sam said.

"We're screwed," Brittany said spacily.

I was trying to ignore all of them. I felt like I was rooted to the spot.

"Mercedes..." I turned my head to see Quinn. "Are you okay?" she asked.

I tried to open my mouth to say I was fine, but as I did a tear fell into my mouth. I hadn't realized that I'd started crying.

"Maybe he'll be back," she whispered.

"And maybe he won't." I looked at her. "He won't be back, Quinn. Not while there's something better for him there."

"What have they got that we don't?" Finn said angrily. He still seemed to be processing the news, and it did not seem to be going very well.

Quinn grabbed my hand. "Mercedes, come with me in the hallway."

"Why?"

"Just come on." I let her lead me out into the hallway. We walked away from the choir room, and she led me all the way to the girls' bathroom. "No better place for personal talk, besides of course almost anywhere else," she said, smiling. "Now tell me what you're really thinking."

"You don't get it, Quinn." I was trying not to cry any harder. "He's my best friend. We've been through so much together. And now he's leaving."

"He's not abandoning you, Mercedes! I'm sure you two will hang out all the time."

"He already spends so much of his time with Blaine, and they weren't even going to the same school." I shook my head, finding it increasingly difficult to keep back the flood of tears. "He has a new life, now, why would he need me anymore?"

"Mercedes, stop it!" Quinn sounded like she was close to tears herself. "You two are best friends. I've seen the way you guys look at each other. You'd do anything for each other, and it is mutual. He won't forget about you, and he won't stop seeing you. You can bet that he'll be missing you as much as you're missing him."

"I don't know what to do, Quinn!" The tears finally worked themselves loose, and Quinn was hugging me, letting me cry into her shoulder.

**Rachel's POV:**

Finn was so close to losing it. I could see it in his face. I could hear the mutterings all around the room. No one knew how to react. I wasn't even quite sure how to react.

I did regret my immediate reaction. The only words out of my mouth were " does this mean that you're going to be competing against us at sectionals"? Really? It made it seem like I didn't care about him at all.

These were the kinds of things that made people dislike me. I just really couldn't help it sometimes, though. But I did care for Kurt. I did feel a connection to him. It was that connection that made me offer to do a duet with him, and, to some extent, that connection that made me compete with him for solos. I knew he was good – if someone asked me which of us was better, I would very likely say me, but there's no denying that he's amazing. And the energy that he brings to Glee you couldn't find anywhere else.

Just like you couldn't find a Kurt anywhere else.

He's irreplaceable, and now he's gone.

It makes me feel a little better to know that we did try to help him, but it kills me that we didn't do enough. But a part of me is really wondering what was going on.

Apparently I wasn't the only one on that particular train of thought, because a moment later, Artie said, "What I want to know is what is Karofsky's deal? There's some major anger in that kid. I don't know how he could be that angry at Kurt without Kurt having done anything to him."

Santana suddenly looked pensive. "You don't think that Kurt-"

"NO!" Finn's sudden, loud outburst stunned everyone. He had whirled around as he shouted, pulling his hand roughly out of mine as he did so. His hands were clenched into tight fists.

"Why not? He did it to you." Santana said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but Kurt's changed. He's matured. He's different, and he wouldn't have gone after a jerk like Karofsky anyway. Don't even think about it." Finn was shaking, although what from, even I couldn't tell. His emotions were so scattered that I don't know if even he would have known if I'd asked him. A part of it was definitely anger, though, and Santana actually looked intimidated.

"Finn, calm down." Mr. Shue had reappeared. He put his hand on Finn's shoulder. Finn was staring at the ground. "Finn, look at me." He looked up. They made eye contact until Finn's fists unclenched and he looked a little more relaxed.

"Finn," I whispered. He looked down at me, and I saw that his eyes were red and full of tears. I grabbed his hand again and squeezed it.

"Now, I know we're all upset because of the news that Kurt just gave us," Mr. Shue said. "So, I'm calling off rehearsal for today." I opened my mouth to protest, as did several other Glee Clubbers, but Mr. Shue held up his hand, and I forced myself to bite my tongue and stay quiet. "Now, I know that this will cut our already short rehearsal time before sectionals even shorter, but I think we all need a break. So, all of you get some rest, get all this worked out, and I promise that, barring some disaster, our next rehearsal will happen as scheduled." He spread out his hands. "So that's all for today. You're excused."

A murmur broke out again. I started walking towards the door, but Finn, whose hand I was still holding, didn't move. "Just wait a sec, Rachel, okay?" He let go of my hand and walked over to Mr. Shue.

"Mr. Shue, isn't there anything that you can do?" Finn's voice was strained. It hurt me to hear him so upset.

"Finn..." Mr. Shue looked and sounded just as sad and hopeless as the rest of us. "I did everything I can. In the end, it was Kurt's decision to make, and he made it. I hate to see him go as much as the rest of you, but I couldn't stop him any more than you guys could." He shrugged. "I truly am sorry, but there really was nothing else I could do. I wish there was." He picked up his things and walked out.

I walked up to him and took his hand again. "Come on, Finn, I'll drive you home."

"Actually, uh, we were supposed to have dinner over at Kurt's tonight, if you wouldn't mind taking me over there?" His brow furrowed. "At least I think we'll still be having it. I mean, we aren't technically living over there, but we still do spend most of our time over there..." He trailed off.

I smiled sadly at him. "Sure." We walked out of the building and spent the entire car ride in silence. Finn had turned off the radio immediately. I didn't complain, because Just the Way You Are was playing, and I wasn't feeling quite as happy to hear that song anymore either.

We pulled up in front of Kurt's house. I got out when Finn did, to hug him goodbye.

"Wish me good luck," he said as we pulled apart.

"Why?"

"I'm going to try to talk to him."

I kissed him quickly. "Good luck." I held his hand. "Just... don't expect too much, okay? You know Kurt."

"I know. I won't." He kissed me. "I might call you later."

"Okay. Bye." I stood and watched him until he had gone into the house. Then I turned and walked back to my car, trying not to think about the conversation that would soon be unfolding in the Hummel house.

**Finn's POV:**

"Mom? Burt? Kurt? I'm here!" I felt a wave of relief when I didn't choke on Kurt's name.

"Hi, honey," my mom said as she walked into the entryway. I saw her expression change a little as she took in my face. I knew that she was noticing that I'd been crying. But she didn't say anything about it, and I was grateful. "You're home early."

"Yeah, Mr. Shue decided to let us have the day off." I hung my jacket next to the door. "Is Kurt around?"

Burt walked up behind my mom. "He's in his room. We've left him alone, but you can go ask if you can go in, if you want. Dinner won't be ready for a while."

"Thanks." I kissed my mom on the cheek, nodded at Burt, and walked down to Kurt's room.

It was weird. I'd been in Kurt's room a thousand times before, including when he'd had a crush on me and when I had temporarily lived here, but this time it felt more personal. More than that, it felt like I was going into someone's room that I didn't even know. I knocked on the door. There was no answer.

"Hey, Kurt?" Still no answer. "It's Finn, can I come in?" I heard some noises behind the door, and then the sound of footsteps and a lock being unlocked, and then the door opened.

One quick glance at his face told me that he'd been crying even more than I had. He looked a little bit of a mess, about as much as you could with his sense of fashion. I tried to smile at him, but I don't know how effective it was.

"Can I come in?"

He stood there for another moment without saying anything, and then croaked out, "Sure," and stepped aside, letting the door swing open so that I could walk in.

I walked in slowly. I didn't turn around, but I heard Kurt close the door behind me. He walked over to the couch that he'd very likely just vacated, and picked up a pillow, hugging it tight to his chest. I went over and sat next to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Why would I be okay, Finn?"

"Right, stupid question." I felt like kicking myself. "Kurt, we really don't want you to go."

"I don't entirely want to leave either."

"Then don't go!"

"I have to."

"Why? Because of Karofsky?"

"Yes."

"We told you, Kurt, we'll protect you!" I didn't know how I could get this message through to him any clearer.

"Finn, even I don't know when it's coming, so how could you? You guys can't follow me around 24/7. I can't stay there."

"Dammit, Kurt, why does this guy have it out for you?" I was frustrated, and trying to let out some emotion, but to my surprise, and dismay, Kurt looked frightened.

"I-I don't know," he murmured nervously.

"I think it's a little intense just for homophobia, though. Did you do something to him?" I couldn't believe I was saying this.

"Finn, no! I didn't do anything to him!" He looked like he was going to burst into tears again. "How could you say that?"

"Kurt, I'm just trying to figure this out! I just want to help you! Why is he doing this to you? Please, I want to help, and I need to know why to do that!"

He stood there, gasping, for a few moments. Then: "I can't tell you, Finn."

"Why not?"

"Because..." he chewed on his bottom lip. "I don't know, okay? I don't know why he has it out for me!"

Something about the way he said it made me believe that he wasn't telling me the truth. But I didn't have time to dwell on it, because Kurt dissolved into tears, and by instinct, I'd stepped forward and pulled him into a hug.

"It's going to be okay... It'll all be okay, Kurt..."

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**A/N: Woah. I'm actually really impressed with this. I almost forgot how much I love writing emotional pieces. **

**So, I've probably spent a good hour or two on this, and I haven't edited it hardly at all.**

**So why did I do this?**

**I really wanted to get into Kurt's head during this, and then the more I thought about this scene, the more I realized that I wanted to do a multi-POV fic for it. I really like getting into multiple characters' heads about one scenario. I hope I kept everyone pretty well in character, I know that Rachel's a bit mellow, I completely forgot that I was writing from her perspective in the middle of hers. But I think in this sort of scene she would be kind of mellow. It's really hard, because this is my first time writing as everyone except Kurt, and even getting the background lines to be in character was really difficult. I'll get it, though.**

**Also, I was entirely unimpressed with how the episode ended. And with how Kurt was just like "Yeah, they're paying for this with their honeymoon money." I was like WHAT. NO. SO unlike Kurt! And so that needed to change. And there was SO much more that needed to happen. So here's what I think would have happened. I think I managed to get everyone talking at least once. If I didn't, WHOOPS. I like it, so i'm not going to put anyone else in.**

**I know this is long, and I didn't really mean for it to be that long, but it had to be for everything that needed to be said to be said.**

**I hope you read it all and enjoyed it.**

**I'm thinking about doing a Karofsky POV fic, not of anything specific, really, but just sort of the whole thing. I've also got a couple Kurt and Blaine fics bouncing around my head...**

**I am so glad that I wrote this and uploaded it in time, because if I hadn't finished it before the episode aired, I wouldn't have uploaded it.**


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